Shoppers May Get Brand Fatigue From Messaging Overload

Some consumers don’t mind handing over personal information, such as their phone number, in exchange for something in return—like a discount. In a March survey from mobile marketing company Vibes conducted by Cite Research, more than six in 10 US smartphone users said they subscribe to mobile messages for deals. And almost as many (55%) said they do so for loyalty reward points. 

But sometimes even discounts are not enough to keep their interest in a mobile messaging program. When asked why they unsubscribed from a brand's mobile messaging, roughly a third said the deals and promotions they were getting weren't good enough. And another 44% felt that the information wasn't relevant to them. 

Unsurprisingly, though, the reason why most unsubscribed was because they were flooded with too many brand messages and updates. 

What's too many? For 27% of respondents, it’s one message per day, while 32% of respondents say more than two per day is too much. Interestingly, female respondents (61%) were found to be more likely than males (49%) to unsubscribe because too many messages were received.

There’s a fine line between being effective and being annoying. A November 2017 Localytics sand Qualtrics survey of 1,000 US app users found that nearly a quarter (22.3%) said they would stop using an app if they received between two and five push notifications over a weeklong period. And nearly one-third of those polled said they would halt an app’s use if they received between six and 10 push notifications over a week.